Virtues: Discipline

Discipline is fundamental to spiritual maturity. We engage discipline in many
aspects of our lives. We know that we need to floss and brush our teeth if we
want good dental health. If we want to be physically fit we know that exercise
and wise eating habits are critical.


Discipline involves the development of practices or habits such as meditating on
scripture, fasting and prayer in order to become more godly and to grow into
Christlike character. Saint Paul suggests that when we are babies we can
thrive on milk, but as we grow our diet gets more complete. In order to mature
spiritually we need to engage in spiritual habits in order to mature in our faith
and our capacity to serve God and seek to be full citizens of the Kingdom of
God.


In order to become Godly we must desire God and seek to be true disciples of
Christ. We must intend to practice training ourselves to align our will with the
will of God. That means to resist the culturally and bodily derived urges to give
in to our unspiritual nature. Fasting is about moderating our impulses to be
gluttonous with food and drink, to resist the temptation to be excessive in our
use of food and drink. Taking time to read scripture and meditate upon it
provides the spiritual food and intellectual nurture to support us in cultivating a
holy life. Prayer, especially with scripture, maintains a communication
necessary to our relationship with God.
In training to be an athlete we train to perform. We don't train only when we
feel like it, training which includes eating properly and sleeping adequately,
becomes a way of life. Spiritual discipline likewise should be undertaken as a
life long practice.


Discipline of our thoughts requires custody of our thoughts. Saint Paul offers us
a prescription in Philippians 4: 8, 9. When our thoughts are more affected by
prayerful discipline, our behaviour in relation to others will better reflect our
commitment to the will of God.

 


Marcus